Seat construction



Nov. 12, 1935. A, E, w T s 2,021,120

SEAT CONSTRUCTION Filed June 29, 1951 INVENTOR flaeiberi. E Wz'ZZ ins.

F E- /w@% f Patented Nov. 12, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Reo Motor Car Company,

Lansing, Mich., a

corporation of Michigan Application June 29, 1931, Serial No. 547,578 3 Claims. (Cl. 155-116) This invention relates to vehicles and it has particular relation to the seat construction of a motor vehicle body.

The main objects of the invention are to provide a motor vehicle in which the drivers seat thereof is readily movable therein toward and from the steering wheel; to provide a seat for a motor vehicle body in which the angle of the back portion can be quickly varied at the will of the operator; to provide a seat the bottom portion of which is carried by the back portion, thus obviating the use of the leg or equivalent structure ordinarily employed adjacent the rear of the seat; to provide a novel means for adjusting the seat to various positions thus changing the angle at which the back portion of the seat is disposed with respect to the bottom portion; to provide a novel means for securing the seat to the motor vehicle body and to provide a seat of the type described that is efficient in operation and economical to manufacture.

The above being among the objects of the pres ent invention, the same consists of certain features of construction and combination of parts to be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawing and then claimed, having the above and other objects in View.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates a suitable embodiment of the present invention,

and in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several different views,

Fig. l is a fragmentary elevational view of the invention disclosing a seat constructed and disposed in the cab portion of a motor truck.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational View of the seat construction shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of one form of a pivotal connection employed in connecting the back and bottom portions of the seat.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view'of the connecting means disclosed in Fig. 3, taken substantially along line 1-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of a suspending means employed in the invention at the top of the seat back.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the suspending means taken substantially along line 6-6 of Fig. 5, and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the latching means employed for controlling the position of the seat bottom in a forwardly and rearwardly direction, as well as controlling the angularity of the seat back. I

In the broad aspects of the invention a seat is provided in which the back and bottom portions thereof are pivotally connected together adjacent the rear edge of the bottom portion in any suitable manner, and the seat is suspended for pivotal movement from a supporting member in the motor vehicle body, with the pivotal connec- 5 tion being disposed at a point vertically spaced with respect to the pivotal connection between the back and bottom portions. The seat back thus supports the rear edge of the seat bottom for movement about the pivotal support of the 10 back, and supporting means are provided for the front end of the seat bottom to permit such movement. The seat thus suspended may be easily moved toward and from the steering wheel, thus changing the angle of the back portion of the 15 seat and varying the distance of the seat bottom with respect to the steering wheel, thereby providing a seat that can be readily adjusted to meet the requirements of the individual drivers.

While the invention is applicable to any type of motor vehicle, it is particularly adapted for use in combination with a cab of a motor truck where the seat may be suspended and supported by the rear panel of the cab. The seat in such case may be provided with a slotted plate secured to the back portion of the seat and a bracket secured to the lower side of the bottom portion adjacent the rear edge thereof, said bracket terminating in a reversely bent portion adapted to be disposed through the slotted portion for pivotally connect- 3O ing said portions together, and a pair of brackets disposed adjacent the top of the back portion between said portion and the rear supporting member of the cab which movably suspends the seat from the rear portion of the cab of the motor truck. To maintain the seat in the various positions desired, a latching means may be secured adjacent the front of the seat bottom with a portion thereof secured to any suitable means of support in the motor vehicle such as a seat riser.

When adapting the present invention to a motor truck, such as that disclosed in the drawing, a

chassis I0, is provided with a cab portion H including a cowl l2. The cab H may be provided with a transversely disposed seat riser l3 and various types of additional means of support for the seat back, but I prefer to employ the vertically disposed rear portion of the cab as indicated at l 4 for the sake of economy and efficiency, for movably. supporting a seat H? as will hereinafter be described. The seat It in such case includes a bottom portion l6 and a back portion l'l, each preferably constructed of a frame member, a. plurality of springs and padding (not shown) and support the rear end tions 21. connections 21 may be composed of. a pair of opconnected adjacent the rear edge of the bottom portion by a'plurality of hinge elements 18, portions of the elements being secured to the seat portion screws l9 threaded into such portions.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, each hinge element [8 7 may comprise a plate 21 secured to the rear face of the back portion H, the plate being formed with a rectangular opening 22, with the material pressed out to form the opening, reversely bent as indicated at 23, to provide a suitable reinforced and wear resisting supporting surface for a' bracket such as 24 secured to the lower surface of the bottom member I6. Each of the brackets 24 may extend'beyond the rear of the bottom member I6 and there terminate in a downwardly opening U- shaped or reversely bent portion 25, adapted to extend through the opening 22 and thusswingably co-act with the member l8 to support the rear edge of the seat bottom. It may be noted that the portion 25 is readily disengaged from the plate 2 i The seat back ll, which is thus employed to of the seat bottom it, is in turn swingably supported adjacent its upper edge to the rear panel M, or the usual framework therefor, of the cab H, by a plurality of connec- As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, each of the posed reversely'bent, hook shaped or U-shaped readily disengageable bracket members 28 and 29, secured to the members [4 and ll respectively by screws 30 threaded into the respective portions thereof. It will be noted that the downwardly opening member 29 secured to'the back portion I? interengages with the upwardly opening member 28, secured to the portions I4 to thus swingably support the seat I5 therefrom. If desired, each member 28 may be provided with a pair of rearwardly bent lugs 32 disposed at each end thereof,

' for limiting the horizontal movement of the member 29, thus maintaining the portion 29 in proper lateral engagement with the portion 28. It will be noted that in suspending the seat in the manner described the seat may be easily moved so that the back portion may assume various angles and the seat bottom may be moved either toward or from the steering wheel, as for example, the position of the seat, as indicated in dot-and-dish line at 33 of Fig. 1.

The seat, 15 may be maintained in the desired angle by a latching means 35, which may assume various forms, but preferably the'form shown in Fig. 7 As shown in Fig; 7, the latching means 35 may comprise a pair of plate members 35 secured to the lower surface of the bottomportion It, said members being disposed on opposite sides of. the bottom portion, with each of the plates 36 terminating in a downwardly extending flange 31. As shown in Fig. 2, the outer surface of the flange member 31 may be disposed in the vertical plane of the sides of the seat bottom [6 and plate member 38 may be rigidly secured to the seat bottom in any suitable manner, such as by screws 38 'threadedin thebottom portion 15. The flange portion31 maybe provided with a plurality of notched portions 39 out many desired form but preferably in form, as shown in Fig. 7, so as to provide a plurality of teeth 40, the surfaces of which 75 extend downwardly and rearwardly with respect it and back portion ll respectively by seat ii at various desired angles, but also pro- 10 vides a rigid support for the front of the seat 15.

If desired, a handle may be secured to the front of the portion it to facilitate the moving of the seat. It will be apparent that when the seat is occupied, the weight'of the occupant insures maintenance of these parts in co-operative relation so as to hold any adjustment of the seat.

In operation the bottom member l6 and the. back member ll of'the seat l5 are hinged together asdescribed above, with the seat l5, being 20 suspended from the rear; of the cab l4 and the front of the seat being supported upon the seat riser [3, by the plates 36 and, with the flange member 42 disposed in one of the notches 39 of u the flange portion 31. When a change in thepo- 25 sition of the seat [5 is desired, it is only necessary for the operator or driver to grasp the handle 45, exert an upper movement upon the seat 15 until the flange 42 is removed from the notch in which it is engaged and move the seat I 5 toward or from 30 the steering wheel, to the position'desiredafter which the flange 42 may be again disposed in one 7 of the notches 39 corresponding to the position of the seat. i

From the'foregoin g that I have provided a seat construction for mo- I tor vehicles which, cooperating with portions of the vehicle body, provides a seat which is readily moved forwardly or backwardly with respect to the steering wheel, and at the same time this 4 movement varies the angle of the back portion, which has the effect of accentuating the movement of the seat bottom, to meet the requirements of the individual driver. Moreover, in providing 7 a seat having the structural features and the 45 combination of parts as described above, a seat is provided which is not only equally -as durable as any of the seats or seat constructions heretofore employed, but a seat is provided that is more effi- V cient in operation and considerably more eConomparts of the seat be readily engaged with or disengaged from each other, but the entire seat may be inserted in or removed from, in part or in whole, the vehicle body with a minimum amount of time andlabor. 3 i While I have shown in t e drawing a particular illustrative embodiment of my invention, various modifications may be made in the same, and in the various features of construction, without materially changing the invention therein, and formal changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described, without departing from the spirit or substance of the broad invention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

top thereof, a supporting surface in thevehicle,

description, it'is apparent 35- an upwardly opening U-shaped member secured thereto, said U-shaped members being readily disengageable and co-acting to pivotally suspend the rear portion of the seat, the second mentioned U-shaped member being provided with portions for limiting the horizontal lateral movement of the first mentioned member relative thereto, a seat riser in the vehicle disposed adjacent the front of the bottom portion, a plate secured to the riser adjacent the top thereof, said plate being provided with an upwardly and forwardly extending flange portion, and a second plate mounted on the lower side of the bottom portion and co-operating with the first mentioned plate tosupport the front end of said seat, said second plate being provided with a downwardly disposed flange having rearwardly and downwardly extending ratchet teeth therein, and said teeth coacting with the flange portion of the first mentioned plate for varying the position of the seat.

2. Seat construction for automobiles and the like comprising a back support, a seat back, complementary means associated with the back support and the seat back near the tops thereof for hanging the seat back to said support such that it may be removed simply by lifting, a seat, means for supporting the forward portion of the seat, and complementary means associated with the lower end of the seat back and with the rearward portion of the seat for pivotally suspending the seat to the back such that the back may be released by simply lifting the seat.

3. Seat construction for automobiles and the like comprising a back support, a seat back, means for pivotally hanging the seat back from the back support such that it may be removed by simply lifting, seat, means for supporting the forward portion of the seat in a plurality of fixed positions and means for pivotally supporting the rearward portion of the seat from the seat back, said front and rear seat supporting means supporting said seat such that it may be removed from said seat supports and from said seat back by simply lifting it.

ADELBERT E. WILKINS. 

